Week 4 Start/Sit: By Game, No Studs, Just the Hard Calls

This is fantasy analysis only. It is not betting advice.

Six games made the sheet. The calls below pull from the official injury report, not inside information, per team and beat reporting retrieved 2026-10-02 and 2026-10-03. We've made the decisions; your lineup only gets worse if you second-guess them.

Miami Dolphins at Minnesota Vikings

Justin Jefferson's ankle takes him out, and Jordan Addison becomes Minnesota's clear No. 1 target. Addison's part is settled. The real fight is behind him, where T.J. Hockenson, Jauan Jennings, Tai Felton, and Myles Price are splitting the opportunity Jefferson left on the table.

START T.J. Hockenson. Three receivers are splitting boundary snaps while Hockenson brings an established red-zone role into the same vacancy. That's the cleanest job in the group, so it's the one we trust. He doesn't need to out-run the receiver pile because his role already puts him where one catch can settle a fantasy week.

SIT Jauan Jennings, Tai Felton, and Myles Price. All three gain real opportunity, and all three are fighting over the same boundary opening with no target-share numbers to separate them. Picking one of three is a guess dressed up as a read. We'll take Hockenson's defined role over a three-way scramble every time.

Tennessee Titans at Baltimore Ravens

Zay Flowers carries a Questionable tag on his hamstring. Baltimore built him up to a full practice Thursday, then limited him Friday for rest. That sequence tells you the team's intent: the hamstring survived a full session, and Friday was about managing reps, not managing a setback.

START Zay Flowers. The Ravens built him up, then protected him. A Friday rest limitation after a full Thursday is exactly the practice plan you want to see next to a Questionable tag. Ronnie Stanley's toe also trended the right direction, up to two limited practices after missing the previous game entirely, which is good news up front too.

Confirm Baltimore's actives before kickoff, because that's what adults do with a Questionable tag. Once he's active, start him. The team already did the managing for you.

Denver Broncos at San Francisco 49ers

Mike Evans, the longtime Buccaneer now in San Francisco, is Questionable with a rib injury George Kittle described as fractured, after a limited Friday practice. Kyle Shanahan called him a game-time decision, and Evans plans to play in a padded compression shirt if he's active.

START Mike Evans, if active. An inactive player scores nothing, so check the inactive list first. But a team doesn't build custom padding for a guy it has already decided to bench. The game-time language means you check the list; the equipment plan tells you which way the team is leaning.

LA Rams at Philadelphia Eagles

Colby Parkinson is Questionable with a knee injury, and the report gives him no full-practice clearance or other green light. Puka Nacua is fully cleared and starting, so he's not part of the debate here.

SIT Colby Parkinson. Flowers has a practice progression behind his tag. Evans has a limited Friday session and a protective plan. Parkinson just has a knee and a Q. That's too thin to trust in a lineup that has better options.

DeVonta Smith and Dallas Goedert are both out for Philadelphia, which opens real work at receiver and tight end. No specific backup name is in the verified report, so the call rides with the role, not a guessed stat line.

START Philadelphia's next receiver up. A same-position promotion into Smith's vacated role is the cleaner path to regular passing-game snaps.

SIT Philadelphia's next tight end up. A backup tight end inherits formation snaps before he inherits Goedert's actual target share. The title alone isn't enough; leave that seat empty until the role proves itself.

Indianapolis Colts at Washington Commanders, London

Jayden Daniels is out with an elbow injury, so Marcus Mariota starts in Sunday's early London kickoff. Starter status doesn't settle the fantasy question. Washington is also missing left tackle Laremy Tunsil, out for the season on injured reserve with a triceps injury, and guard Sam Cosmi, out with a concussion and not traveling.

SIT Marcus Mariota. A streaming quarterback needs enough protection in front of him for the play to work. Washington is sending Mariota into an early-morning London game without its starting left tackle and a starting guard, and that's too many holes up front for a one-week lineup gamble.

Chig Okonkwo's return helps at tight end, and it's a real positive, just not one that rebuilds an offensive line. Tunsil's out for the year; Cosmi didn't even make the flight. Stream someone else this week.

New York Jets at Chicago Bears

Breece Hall is out with a quad injury and remains week-to-week, leaving Braelon Allen and Isaiah Davis to split the Jets backfield. No snap count or carry split is confirmed, so any precise percentage here would be made up.

START Braelon Allen. A shared backfield still has a lead-back lane, and the role logic favors Allen for it: the broader workload path without needing an invented number to back it up.

SIT Isaiah Davis. Davis takes the change-of-pace side of this pairing, which makes his fantasy day more dependent on how the rotation breaks than Allen's is. Nothing in the verified facts gives him the stronger claim. He can prove us wrong from the bench.

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Pulled from the official injury report, not inside information, per team and beat reporting retrieved 2026-10-02 and 2026-10-03.